Tag Archives: depression

If you read yesterday’s post you will understand that I was struggling, feeling broken and more than a bit overwhelmed. It had been a bad day, in a bad week, bad month, year…… you get the drift. Thank you to all who reached out with words of support and to share their own stories – it really does make a difference!

This morning I woke up feeling a bit better but still quite broken. My son refused to go to school again and I didn’t have the energy to deal with him. Then his nurse called to check in and suggested that I should consider arranging to have a stay in the private psychiatric clinic over the school holidays to have a break from the children and re-charge. Now while I understand where she is coming from, and I fully believe that ‘if mumma ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy’ etc, a stay in a psych ward did not sound like the answer to my prayers!

While still reeling from that call I realised that I needed an urgent appointment to get a prescription renewed for my son because, despite all the reminders that it was about to expire, I hadn’t managed to actually make the call. I had been thinking about ducking into town on my own as a way to escape the stress, so the thought of taking him with me did not fill me with joy. But you know what? It should have. Because he and I had a really thoughtful, logical and forward thinking chat on the drive in about how we are going to tackle his school refusal together. Then we looked at funny dog memes and laughed together while we waited to see the doctor, and when we saw the doctor, who is new to the practice, he made both her and I laugh with his funny puns and one liners. He was delightful in the supermarket, and helpful (more than either of his older sisters would have been in the same circumstances!). Then we went to an Op Shop that I like to check for teacups and teapots and he charmed the volunteer working the counter, helped me carry my finds and was generally delightful. And he insisted that I needed to buy one teapot in particular. The most expensive item in the photo below. The teapot that is actually meant to sit on top of a cup – which was absent. Making it the most expensive and least ‘together’ item in our haul. And yet it has charm and quirkiness that I can work with. A lot like him. (It is the striped one front and centre!)

To find my way out of my dark hole of depression I needed to remind myself of the good, the joy and the laughter that life with this gorgeous boy brings. And being forced to take him to the doctor was the best medicine that I could have had. Better than shopping therapy (which I can’t really afford, let’s be honest!). Better than drinking tea (shock, horror) and definitely better than drinking wine (gee my life has changed.) Enjoying him having a good day while we did things together was all it took.

I also had a lovely chat with a friend on the phone, ran into another friend at the shops quickly and generally had positive interactions that helped. A lot!

I write this as a reminder to myself for future reference, and as a way of letting you know that I am okay. I know that I need to work on my self-care, and this is a good reminder to put some plans in place for the school holidays that are coming up. But I also know that, as a wise and wonderful friend of mine often reminds me, “This too shall pass’. (Thanks Lizzie.)

Now to go off and be inspired by these new purchases – I see some cacti (crocheted) and some hole drilling for planting in my future!

Half way through the week already? I need time to slow down a bit! I am fully recovered from the virus I had on the weekend – it seemed to be a 24 hour thing, thank goodness, but it did make a dent in my plans!

To make up the lost time I baked for the children’s morning tea for the week at 6am on Monday, managed to get the grocery shopping done with two children in tow that afternoon after work, while the eldest chick had a playdate (what did we call these when we were young – I am sure they weren’t ‘playdates’ then!), and then picked her up and shopped for the few bits we needed before she left on camp. Phew! So the chores of Sunday were recovered, but the crafting time was lost.

I have managed to make a library bag that my sister-in-law requested for my niece, and was quite delighted to use a scrap of fabric from the boy’s cot quilt (made by his Nana) and that I am incorporating into his ‘big’ quilt, into the ladybugs’ heads and bottoms – the family connection for his cousin will probably be lost on a 5 year old, but it gave me a nice sense of symmetry. I also found this lovely piece of fairytale fabric in the stash that my mother sent me recently, which I used for the monogram – I think it adds a magical touch to the bag!

The eldest chick has gone on her school camp for two nights. She has been so excited. She has memorised the packing list and, it turns out, has been grilling all the teachers while they have been on playground duty, to get all the details she possibly can about the venue, the activities, the food, and the rules. She decided not to take her new birthday Dr Who bag as it is ‘too special’ and I must say I was relieved with her decision when we woke this morning to rain and the associated mud. I did make her a toothbrush roll (that I forgot to photograph for posterity) from a face washer and a scrap of the fabric from her pyjamas and pillow case, so she will be the most coordinated child at night!

Her persistent gathering of information, coupled with some recent incidents with the other two children, and my own history, have had me thinking about anxiety and the different forms that it takes. My artist-in-residence middle chick has high levels of anxiety that manifest themselves in different ways. Working with a counsellor when some specific manifestations were affecting her quality of life saw that situation improve and her overall anxiety improved dramatically after her diagnosis of coeliac disease. (And on this, and the association of depression with coeliac I commend the post by Shauna Ahern on her blog Gluten Free Girl to you – it is raw but so, so, important to read.) However I always knew that I had to manage her emotional needs slightly differently to the other two, and was very clear that this was something that had been evident since birth.

The boy was and is a sunny and very energetic child most of the time. He is confident in most social situations – sometimes too confident, but when he is angry and frustrated or feels vulnerable we can have some significant behavioural problems. I have always thought of these issues as related to anger or frustration. Recently I was told that the diagnosis is actually anxiety. Huh. That made me stop and think.

Today, after school, I had the middle chick curled up in a ball, terrified and shaking and in complete meltdown because she had done something wrong at school, and by her putting her own black lens over the incident had magnified the consequences and the incident completely out of proportion. An emotional phone call from her mother to the teacher shed light on where the message had been misinterpreted and she has calmed down and is happy to accept the consequences (which are mild compared to what she had interpreted them to be) and has written a note of apology to the teacher un-prompted.

Where is this all leading you ask? Well, it got me to thinking that perhaps my eldest chick, who I rely on to be sunny, transparent and reasonable, is also experiencing her own anxiety, but that she manages it by collecting as much information as possible, so that there are no surprises, and she can cope with new situations. And then it occurred to me that she is well and truly her mother’s daughter. Because that is exactly what I do. I know understand that I ‘suffer’ from anxiety sometimes, and that I manage it the rest of the time, blithely unaware that it is still affecting many of my decisions and actions.

The thought processes then lead me to wonder about the old ‘nature vs nurture’ argument and wonder how much of my eldest chick’s methods of coping are genetic and how much are environmental (i.e. ‘caught’ from her mother), and, more importantly, what skills can I give her so that she doesn’t have to wait until she is in her 40’s to recognise what she is doing and to learn to manage her own levels of anxiety so that they don’t affect her quality of life.

Food for thought for this little bird, trying to manage a nest of little chicks and keep them safe and on the right path for a healthy and happy life. I don’t have any answers but in identifying what is going on in my nest I am hopeful that I can support them to be strong and confident when they need to be. (A bit heavier than my usual posts, but hey – that is what blogs are for – to keep you on your toes!! Or something like that!!)

the little bird

Welcome to a little bird made me! I am Theresa, the little bird who is an artist, making things. My other labels include mother of three, owner of dogs, sheep and chickens, daughter, sister, grower of plants, autism parent, hoarder of fabric and yarn, retired lawyer, gin and tonic appreciator, and tea addict. I am based in rural New South Wales, Australia.

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When your reusable organic cotton teabag matches your giant morning mug you know it is going to be a good day! Today I will be listing these in my online shop and making more, ready the Christmas shopping ahead! ... See MoreSee Less

My plan to spend a couple of days getting my house in order and then getting back to work has blown out a bit! Hopefully the path to the sewing room will get cleared today (metaphorically and literally!) and I will reopen my online store with updated listings! I do have some gorgeous new miniature tea sets ready to turn into jewellery, a pile of teabags waiting to be sewn, and wool that is just begging to be turned into something bright and quirky! Stand by for updates on whether I achieve it all!! In the meantime don’t forget that I am presenting a talk on how to price your handmade products at Trove Canberra next week as part of the Design Canberra festivities! ... See MoreSee Less

What a weekend! Apart from sending many tea cosies off to new homes and introducing a lot of people to my reusable tea bags I also got to chat to amazing people! From my Twitter friends who came to say hi in person, to a young boy who discussed the details of Telstra tower in delightful detail and people who love reminiscing about tea cosies from their past it really was quite a wonderful experience! For now I am sitting with my feet up, a cup of herbal tea in hand and contemplating an early night without crochet!! Thank you all! ... See MoreSee Less